Page 5 of Highlander Redeemed
“If you accept, and if”—he held up his hand to stop her from interrupting him—“ifyou prove yourself an able warrior, then I promise to do everything I can to make sure you get the chance to fight our enemies.”
She realized she was breathing fast and shallow. He offered everything she wanted, and she knew him well enough to know he would not lie to her.
“You will not go easy on me because I am female.” She did not ask, but demanded. She needed to be every bit as skilled as any warrior if she was to avenge the horrors that had befallen her clan. If that meant submitting to Duncan’s training then she would do it. “And I have one more requirement,” she said, now thinking how all the others would react when they found out she was beingtrained to fight. “This must remain a secret between the two of us until I say otherwise.”
Duncan considered her terms, his arms lightly crossed. “If I agree to your terms, you must agree to train with me every single day, no matter how tired or sore you may be,andthat you will not go off alone, ever. As long as you do this, I will keep the secret.”
“Done,” she said before he could add more requirements.
“Done.”
Scotia wanted to throw her practice stick at him when she realized that even when she thought she was in control, Duncan had maneuvered her into doing as he wished. What was she thinking?
She was thinking of vengeance.
She took her fighting stance, facing him instead of the exposed tree roots. “We begin now.”
CHAPTER THREE
DUNCAN STARTEDSCOTIAwith the most basic of instruction but quickly found she had mastered the simple exercises on her own.
“Show me the exercise you were doing when I found you,” he said, circling around her to check her stance and her arm positions. Once more he watched as she closed her eyes. Her lips moved without sound, and then she moved through the combination as if it were a dance, lightly, and with grace, but without any power behind the strikes and parries. That would have to change, but not just yet. He had her show him the other two exercises the lads had been working on for weeks, and again, she moved lightly and with grace, but no power, and he suspected her balance would not be strong enough when clashing swords were involved.
“Now, do all three exercises in order without stopping,” Duncan instructed as he circled around to stand behind her, then picked up a stout stick about the length of his sword but far lighter. “No hesitation. No thinking. Just let your body do what you are training it to do.”
She stilled, and he knew she had closed her eyes and that her lips were moving without sound. He lunged toward her and poked her hard in the ribs.
She spun, ire spitting from her emerald-green eyes. “What—”
He held his position, ready for her attack, but he had not managed to goad her into motion.
“’Tis clear as day I said no hesitation,” he said. “No thinking.” He aimed the thick stick at her belly and lunged, as if with a sword.
Scotia didn’t have time to think, so she did as he hoped, she simply reacted, letting the training she’d had so far carry her into battle with him, parrying his first lunge, then flying through the rest of the exercises just as he’d said, one after the other, blocking every blow and thrust he aimed at her without thought, taking the advantage when she had it, but attacking him without power or conviction.
“You are fighting like a lass, Scotia. Are you so weak? You will kill no English unless you put some strength behind your sword.”
She spun and brought her stick around in a hard, sure arc parallel to the ground, as if she would take his head off with one swipe. He blocked her, and the impact of his stick and hers almost made her drop her weapon, but she managed to hold on to it and dropped back, as the exercise dictated. She drew in a huge lungful of air, and with her next attack let out a loud shout as she drove him back. It was all he could to do keep from grinning at her ferocity. He dared not let her know how well she was doing, how fast she was learning, as if she’d always known the skills of a warrior and he was but reminding her. Telling her how well she did might encourage her to revert to her cocksure ways. He must keep her attention. He must make sure that she knew she had much more to learn so he could ensure she kept to their bargain. ’Twas imperative that he keep her close so she caused no more harm to her clan.
He sped up, in an effort to throw her off what she had trained into her body already, but he could see the moment everything changed for her.
A calm came over her, and her focus was absolute. He knew she had reached that place where time slowed and reactions seemed to speed. He could see it as her movements became more sure, fluid still but with strength and power as if she understood exactly what each step of the exercise was for, what it taught.
She battled him right through his final blow, and her final block with her targe.
For a long moment they just stood there, breathing hard, staring at each other, their weapons held in the final clash as if frozen in time.
Exhilaration filled Scotia’s eyes and lit her face with a radiance he had never seen there before. It transformed her from the fiercely angry lass she had been for weeks, since her mother’s murder, to a woman who had suddenly learned her own strength. The change was startling, kicking him in the gut with an awareness of her that had nothing to do with weapons and battle, and everything to do with the confidence shining in the sparkling green eyes of the woman who stood before him.
He smiled and stepped away, putting some distance between them.
“That was amazing!” She grinned at him, and all he could do was nod. He turned away, needing to look elsewhere in an attempt to gather his thoughts and calm the heat that gathered within him.
“’Twas a good start,” he said as he forcefully turned his attention back to her training.
“A good start? Aye, it was. But that is the easy part, aye, the beginning lessons?”
“Easy?” He turned back to her, his mind focused back on her training. “It takes more than learning the moves of a lesson to be prepared for battle. You must also develop the mind of a warrior, and that is often more difficult than mastering the physical. But we start with the physical skills.” She had found that calm, that singular focus he only found in hard training and battle, but there was still much to be learned in this lesson. “Do it again. All three without thought or hesitation.”
